Learn sed - TOC for sed Book

A Book to Help Learn and Master sed

Definitive Guide to sed
by Daniel A. Goldman
Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

1: Introduction to sed

    sed is a 'Stream Editor'
    PatSpace and HoldSpace
    Introducing the s Command
    Quoting Command-Line Scripts
    Inputs for Book Examples

2: sed s (substitute) Command

    Delimiter for s Command
    sed Input from File or stdin
    sed Command Line Options
    -e sed Command Line Option
    ;  sed Command Line Syntax
    -f sed Command Line Option
    sed Output to File or stdout
    -i sed Command Line Option

3: Flags for s (substitute) Command

    i (ignore case) Flag
    g (global) and n (number) Flags
    -n sed Command Line Option
    p (print) and w (write) Flags
    e (execute) and m (multi) Flags
    Combining s Command Flags

4: Single Character MetaChars

    Literal Character in RegEx
    .  (Dot) Wildcard Character)
    \  (Specify Literal Character)
    [   ]  (Character Set)
    \w   \W  (Word and Non-Word)
    [:   :]  (Posix Character Class)

5: Anchor MetaChars

    ^  (Start of PatSpace)
    $  (End of PatSpace)
    \<   \>   \b  (Word Boundaries)
    \B  (Not a Word Boundary)

6: Simple Repetition MetaChars

    *  (0 or More of Previous)
    \+  (1 or More of Previous)
    -r sed Command Line Option
    \?  (0 or 1 of Previous)
    *   \+   \?  Compared

7: General Repetition MetaChars

    \{N\}  (Exact N of Previous)
    \{L,\}  (Low, Higher of Previous)
    \{L,H\}  (Low, High of Previous)

8: Other RegEx MetaChars

    \|  (Alternative Patterns)
    \(   \)  (Grouping and Saving)
    \`  (Always Start of PatSpace)
    \'  (Always End of PatSpace)

9: SubEx MetaChars

    &  (Entire Matched Portion)
    \N BackRef  (Play Saved Group)
    \l   \u  (Case for Next Character)
    \L   \U   \E  (Case for Next Span)

10: Command Addresses

    Address Omitted
    N Format Address
    L,H Format Address
    /RegEx/ Format Address
    /RegEx/,/RegEx/ Address
    L,/RegEx/ Format Address
    /RegEx/,+N Format Address
    /RegEx/,~N Format Address
    First~Step Address
    !  (Inverts Address Match)

11: Delete PatSpace Content - dD

    sed d Command (delete)
    sed D Command (Delete)

12: Append, Insert, Change - aic

    sed a Command (append)
    sed i Command (insert)
    sed c Command (change)
    aic Syntax Alternatives
    Cannot Edit a, i, c Results

13: Print PatSpace - pP l

    sed p Command (print)
    sed P Command (Print)
    sed l Command (display line)

14: Read / Write File - rR wW

    sed r Command (read Rfile)
    sed R Command (Read Rfile)
    sed w Command (write Wfile)
    sed W Command (Write Wfile)

15: Read Line into PatSpace - nN

    sed n Command (next line)
    sed N Command (Next Line)

16: Access HoldSpace - hH gG x

    sed h Command (hold)
    sed H Command (Hold)
    sed g Command (get)
    sed G Command (Get)
    sed x Command (exchange)
    Examples using HoldSpace

17: Branch / Quit - : btT / qQ

    sed : (Label, eg :k)
    sed b Command (branch)
    sed t Command (test)
    sed T Command (Test)
    Branching Examples
    sed q Command (quit)
    sed Q Command (Quit)

18: Other Actions - { } # eyvz =

    sed { } (grouping)
    sed # (comment marker)
    sed e Command (execute)
    sed y Command (transliterate)
    sed v Command (version)
    sed z Command (zap)
    sed = Command (line #)

19: General Advice about sed

    When to Use (or not Use) sed
    Quoting Command-Line Scripts
    Using sed within Shell Scripts
    Testing sed Scripts
    Structuring Input Files

20: Examples - Substitution

    Do a Simple Substitution
    Add Leader at Line Start
    Substitute for a Span
    Delete Space at Line Start
    Delete Space at Line End
    Substitute only for a Word
    Substitute for One or More (+)
    Substitute up to Something
    Substitute on Certain Lines
    Replace with Entire Match
    Replace All or Just One

21: Examples - Line Spacing

    Double Space a Stream
    Triple Space a Stream
    Squeeze Blank Lines to One

22: Examples - Add Some Lines

    Add Line Before Lines 1, 3, ...
    Add Line After Lines 2, 3, ...
    Add Line Before Matching Line
    Add Line After Matching Line
    Add Line Before & After Line

23: Examples - Print Some Lines

    Print Line #X
    Print Last Line
    Print Lines L to H
    Print First X Lines
    Print Last X Lines
    Print Lines 4, 8, ...
    Print Matching Line
    Print Line Before Match
    Print Line After Match
    Number Lines in Stream

24: Examples - Delete Some Lines

    Delete Line #X
    Delete Last Line
    Delete Lines L to H
    Delete First X Lines
    Delete Last X Lines
    Delete Lines 1, 3, ...
    Delete All Blank Lines
    Delete Leading Blank Lines
    Delete Up to Blank Line #1
    Delete Match-Based Range
    Delete Following Matched Line
    Delete Serial Duplicate Lines

25: Examples - Other Short Tasks

    Count Lines in Stream
    Delete Duplicate Characters
    Format a Phone Number
    Replace First Match in File
    Reverse Each Word
    Reverse Each Line
    Capitalize Words
    Reverse Order of Lines
    Add Commas to Numbers

26: Examples - Complex Tasks

    Add Headers and Footers
    Multi-Line Find and Replace
    Set Incremental Macro Values
    Delete HTML Tags

27: Related Unix Commands - grep

    grep Usage
    grep Command Line Options

28: Other Related Commands - 1/2

    head - Print First Part of File
    tail - Print Last Part of File
    uniq - Handle Repeated Lines
    tr - Translate Characters

29: Other Related Commands - 2/2

    expr - Evaluate an Expression
    seq - Print Number Sequence

30: Definitions of Special Terms

31: sed Command Line Reference

32: sed Command Reference

33: s Command Flag Reference

34: Address & Regex Reference

35: Related Books and Web Sites

---

Learn sed - Home Page   |   sed Book - Corrections